Fighting algae

I thought I'd post this here. Light spectrum vs BBA growth rates:



That'd be the pigment responsible for the color in BBA (Audouinella spp.)

 

You have a problem when your fish eat all plants and you are left nothing except rocks covered in black algae and the glass sides in green algae.

 

Advice please

Howdy folks,

I have a dark green furry looking algae growing on my drift wood and plants in my tank. I do regular water changes as I think my tank is a bit overstocked, I've never used micro nutrients to encourage plant growth as the plants that I do have grow really well. My Filter is also cleaned regularly. Lately I've also been cutting down on the light time to cut back a bit on the "fur". It actually adds a very natural look to my tank but its reached a point where it has just taken over for a while now.

I'm new to treating algae in a more controlled manner as opposed to ad hoc methods, this has been an interesting read and has definitely pointed me a few good directions, thank you

However its left more questions than answers to me, lol . You can envision Jeff Dunham's Peanut looking character with a very confused expression on his face.... anyway that was beside the point.

I've never been a fan of adding chemicals to the water to encourage plant growth or cut back on the algae, but it seems I've run out of options. I'm interested in trying the Excel you speak of are there any side effects to the fish? Is there anything else I can try before resorting to chemicals?

Also Is there any chance someone can post some pics of the different types of algae you are describing or post an online resource so that one can look at what to look out for?

Sorry for such a long-winded post...

 

I must admit, that when I ordered the Happy Life Algae killer product, I was a bit skeptical. I had a bit of the dreaded Clado as well. BUT, over the last few weeks, it has slowly turned a brown colour and seems to be dying off!! I also find it in the filter inlets! I believe this product works well and I will recommend it to anyone for the "Herpes of the planted tank".

 

Sounds like BBA. Exclusively caused by CO2 problems. Either your CO2 is not enough or fluctuating too much.

Do you have high light? Try cutting back on the light intensity until your can address the CO2. Excel we no longer recommend. It is a liquid cardbon source but contains gluteraldehyde, which is not good for the fish in the long run. As a side benefit, gluteraldehyde also kills algae, particularly effective against BBA.

There are other sources of liquid carbon not based on gluteraldehyde.

Perhaps look into CO2 injection. Google the DIY CO2 method. Once you got the CO2 stable you can increase ligh intensity again.

In the mean time you also need to work on killing the BBA. I think there are some good methods in the first post. Excel will kill BBA. So if you only use it for 3 to 4 days while killing BBA then I don't suppose it will affect fish too much. The issues are really when you use it long term.

Regards
Lauré

 

Great write up! Thanks Laure, will definitely fix this when I get home.

 

Sorry for the delay, but I finally got round to answering this. These articles have nice pictures, but some of the root causes are not correct.

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php
http://www.aquariumalgae.blogspot.com/
http://www.gwapa.org/articles/algae/

The table in the next post I created myself based on findings and research on the web.

 

Attached file

 

Bumping this thread again. Just in case some newer forum members missed it...

 

Help please, my malawi tank is about 1.5 months old. Babies only. I do believe that I did overfeed in the begining but have stopped. I do have strong cannister filter. On the rocks I have this yellow/brown algae - what can I do to remove it?

 

Hi Rookie

It sounds like brown diatoms. Usually caused by high levels of ammonnia or nitrates, or high levels of sillicates, or even a combination of these. One often find this type of algae in newly established tanks, due to some sillicates from the glass and gravel dissolving in th water, and also due to the fact that the cycle process will generate some ammonnia and nitrate. 1.5 months into the tank's life should have sorted out the cycle by now, so perhaps we can rule that out. Do you know what type of rocks you have and where did you get them?

I still feel that, judging by all the algae discussions on all the different forums and web sites around the world, there are not many types one can control easily. However, good tank maintenance goes a long way in keeping things in check. Frequent water changes, vacuuming, etc. Don't overdo the light levels; it's a mistake easily made.

But, having said that, if you suddenly found an outbreak of this brown diatom algae, I want to know this: did you do a major filter cleaning recently? Did you change your lights? Did you disturb the substrate? Did you neglect water changes?

 

How did I miss this xls file - good stuff @Laure - I just had to turn it into an image.



Need a bigger image http://www.f-fish.net/images-cabinet/algaesheet.jpg

Later Ferdie

 

Great to read and thanks for the info